The perils of social media in your job hunt

The Perils of Social Media in Your Job Hunt

What did you get up to last weekend? Did you have a quiet one in at home, or were you out with your friends? Whatever it was, there is a reasonable chance that there is evidence of it on one of your social media profiles.

Whether we’re telling our friends what we’re up to on Facebook, showing them on Instagram, or venting our opinions or frustrations on Twitter, everything that we do online leaves a footprint, and in a day and age where these profiles are easily accessible and very visible, it is very easy for potential employers to check out your profiles to see the real you.

It would be remiss for any company that is looking at investing in a new staff member to not do their research – and they do. Although it isn’t openly discussed, we know that most companies look up people who they are interviewing to make sure that there are no skeletons lurking – in fact, we had a placement that we thought was a done deal last year that fell through as the candidate had posted on Instagram about how they had just pulled a sickie to spend the day with their partner as they couldn’t get leave.

So if you’re looking for a new job, run a quick a sanity check on your profiles – here are a few pointers to get you going:

- Make sure that there isn’t anything offensive on your profiles. I don’t just mean in posts directed at others, but also the tone of what you post.

- Post pictures of you having a great time, but make sure that the pictures of you after you have partied a little hard don’t make it onto the internet, or ensure that they’re swiftly deleted.

- Have a think about the companies that you follow on LinkedIn – try to make these relevant to the industry that you are looking to excel in.

- Make sure that there are no posts slating your current or previous jobs. Alarm bells will ring if companies think that you are a troublemaker.

- Don’t post anything that alludes to you taking it easy, or skiving from work, and make sure that you have nothing in your timelines about pulling a sickie!

Remember, social media profiles used correctly are a great tool for finding a new job; they help form your personal brand, and if a company buys into you – then the job will be yours.

And don’t forget to keep across our Social Media feeds to see our jobs as we get them.